Soldier Side
by Eve Nightingale
Summary: Ed tries to confront the death of one of his friends and is consoled by a man trying to help. Spoilers from past ep. 25, you were warned. Song fic to System of a Down's Soldier Side.


**_Soldier Side -System of a Down

* * *

_**

The car pulled up to the grave yard. The dusky sun was casting it's shadowy dying light on the cemetery, causing it to look even more depressing that it normally was. Ed hopped out of the car, regretful to what he was about to see. He walked forward.

_**Dead men lying on the heart of the grave  
Wondering when savoir comes, if he is goanna be saved  
Maybe you're a sinner and to your turn in life  
Maybe you're a joker, maybe you deserve to die **_

Ed approached the grave yard, knowing what exactly what he was going to see, but not wanting to see it. He found out from Scieszka that Hughes was murdered. Later he found out it was Envy. Enraged, Edward tried to find Envy, but to no avail. So, in reparation, Ed walked closer and closer to the designated tombstone. It read "Mäes Hughes" Ed could feel a lump in his throat, he shouldn't cry, it wouldn't bring Hughes back. Ed crouched down in front of the tombstone, his mind going a million miles a second. Ed then felt a hand on his shoulder.

"_Don't cry kid_." A voice sounded, Ed didn't turn around.

_**They were crying when their sons left  
God is wearing black  
He's gone so far to find no hope  
He's never coming back**_

"Did he know? Did he know that if he got too into the case that he would have been killed? 'Get too close to the sun and all you do is burn up.'" He remembered speaking these words to Rose once, and they still held true in this situation, he had passed on his knowledge to yet one other. Ed knew Hughes never did anything to deserve this; his life existed for his wife and his child; and on the off time, his job. he deserved more.

_**They were crying when their sons left  
All your men must go  
He's come so far to find no truth  
He's never going home**_

"_Maybe he did. But those attempts weren't in vain. Peace was restored wasn't it?_" The man so bluntly pointed out. Ed just stayed there, crouching close to the ground.

_**Young men standing on the top of their own grave  
Wondering when Jesus comes, are they goanna be saved  
Holy to the little bishop, tells the king his lies  
**__**Maybe you're a mourner, maybe you deserve to die**_

"Was it?" Ed asked. "The fuehrer turned out to be on the same side as Envy, so many more people died. If we'd have just figured out what Hughes was trying to find out, we would have been able to prevent so many people from dying." Ed rested his head on his knees. The man who was comforting Edward walked around the back of the tombstone and leaned against it.

"_Even so, isn't everything just an equivalent exchange?_" Ed looked up to the man. The sun was shining in his eyes so he could only make out his outline. "_What was done needed to be done to further the search, to further your search. Take a lot and you have to give a lot._"

_**They were crying when their sons left  
God is wearing black  
He's gone so far to find no hope  
He's never coming back**_

"_He died so that the truth would be found. I imagine he knew something bad would happen eventually, but everyone has to make a sacrifice. He probably did all he could in hopes that the people who mattered most to him would survive. Did that happen Ed? Did he save at least one life?_" Ed nodded, still in shock to what he was seeing; his tombstone was so perfect, only the best for 'Brigadier General Mäes Hughes'

_**They were crying when their sons left  
All your men must go  
He's come so far to find no truth  
He's never going home**_

"_What I'm trying to say Ed is that even though something looks bad you have to move on for the greater good. The end—_" Ed cut in.

"--justifies the means. I know. But still, why take Hughes? He deserved so much more than a nice burial and a flwlessly carved rock." Tears began whell up in his eyes.

_**Welcome to the soldier side  
Where there is no one here but me  
People all grow up to die  
There is no one here but me**_

"Why is it that everyone important to me has to die! Am I cursed? Is this what I get for sinning and trying to play god? What ever I did to deserve this I'm sorry already." He dropped to his knees and the tears streamed down his face. "I feel so alone." Mäes knelt down by Edward. He shook his head.

_**Welcome to the soldier side  
There is no one here but me  
People on the soldier side  
There is no one here but me **_

"_That's the perils of war Ed, the perils of being in the military. You have to do all you can to try and move on. Your brother is still with you__, reach for your goal and don't look back. What do you think I did?_" Ed looked up to see no one. Though he was alone just then, he knew there was always someone with him. He headed back to the car.

**_People on the soldier side  
There is no one here but me_**

* * *

It was a short little one shot thing, butI liked it, it showed Ed's depressed side and how, even in death, Heghes manages to help. Tell me what you think. 


End file.
